Wednesday, August 9, 2017

People Need the Lord -My sermon from 5/21/2017


People Need the Lord

(Take a selfie)

That seemed a little inappropriate for worship didn’t it? Who does that sort of thing? Well, we’re going to be talking about the selfie kings and queens today.

But before I get started let me say a few words about how I’d like to proceed. Normally, when I get the opportunity to preach, my style is to take a scripture passage and dissect it into how it affects our lives. I try to tie the ancient writings into modern times and how we might allow them to change our hearts and minds and how we can apply them to our everyday living.

Today will be different. I am going to approach this in the opposite direction, starting with a modern dilemma and looking at how the scripture applies to it. Our entire service has focused on the theme of community. 

That theme speaks to my entire message.

I titled my message “People Need the Lord”. Obviously this should apply to ALL people. But today, I want to look at a very specific group. Namely, a group of people in the United States, born between the years of 1978 and 1998. They are more commonly referred to as “Millennials”.

Millennials. Who are these people and why do we find them so annoying? We know a lot about this group of people. I hear people talk about them all the time in so many conversations I am either involved in, or within ear-shot to hear. I hear it at my engineering office. I hear it at my finance office. I even hear it often in this church. So here is the general consensus about the “Millennials”.

First of all, “They’re entitled.”

They think the world owes them just for being who they are.

Second, “They want a trophy for just showing up.”

They’ve been receiving rewards whether they win or lose, have success or failure. And they have come to expect it.

Third, employers say that “They’re job hoppers.”

They change jobs more often than any other generation before them.

Fourth, we ALL know that “They want special privileges.”

And fifth,  “They’re easily sidetracked by technology.”

But I have to ask, what are these opinions based on? Are we RIGHT to be so negative about the newest young adults in our society? Based on the consensus, how can we be anything BUT negative?

As I prepared for this message, I spent the past 2 weeks reading article after article about this group of people we call Millennials. I’ve also spoken with several people in this group, and asked the question, “what do you look for in a church?” And, you know what? I learned a few things.

I’d like to look at the data collected by the census bureau and several research groups concerning Millennials. Looking at the myths we hold dear and whether or not we are right to hold them.

MYTH #1: Millennials have it easier than previous generations.

It is commonly believed that the millennial generation is full of lazy, entitled and selfish people. Or that they all started with a leg up on every other generation.

That is statistically untrue.

We have just recently come out of one of the worst recessions. Which was in no way caused by millennials–but they are dealing with the repercussions.

Millennials have 40% more unemployment than Generation X’ers and 25% more than Baby Boomers, at comparable ages. And for younger millennials from ages 18-29, the rate of unemployment is double the rate for those over 30. And 1 out of 5 millennials are living in poverty.

MYTH #2: Millennials are lazy.

For the laziest generation, they sure like to start their own businesses. We have experienced the worst recession in recent memory, massive layoffs, and tons of corruption. Starting their own businesses is the best way to take control of this situation. After all, we have seen how big companies can turn their backs on employees as soon as trouble starts. Millennials see this as the answer to big corporate America.

Compared to Boomers and Gen Xers, Millennials are creating companies at twice the rate previous generations did, and they are starting their own businesses a lot earlier than past generations: at the average age of 27, while Boomers waited almost eight years later to start their businesses at 35.

MYTH #3: Millennials are job hoppers.

The myth of job hopping sounds legitimate if you still believe that they are incredibly selfish. We now know that a lifelong career at a single company is nothing more than a pipe dream today. We have seen pensions disappear and lifelong employees get laid off in droves. The gold watch retirement banquet is as extinct as the dodo.

When looking at the other generations, millennials are actually more loyal to their first jobs. In fact, they are staying with their first major employer on average 3-6 years, as opposed to Gen Xers, who stayed for less than a year on average.

 MYTH #4: If millennials go to college, life will be good!

Going to college has always been a big part of the American Dream. No matter who you were, it was the path to a better life. And they believed it. They are now a highly educated and a highly indebted generation.

MYTH #5: Millennials should stop wasting their time and get a REAL degree.

For some reason, the other generations think millennials are majoring in more creative and less practical degrees. It’s thought they are pursuing degrees that will not get them hired instead of majoring in STEM subjects. 

But that is statistically untrue, especially compared to past generations.

Millennials actually have the highest concentration of STEM degrees across generations, with almost half of all millennials studying a STEM subject. 

MYTH #6: Millennials are financially irresponsible.

Now that college is almost a requirement and the cost has increased by 200-300% most millennials are in massive debt.

At the same time, Millennials start saving almost 10 years earlier than older generations did. They now start their first major savings account at 23 years old, compared to 26 for Gen X and 32 for Boomers. In fact, 62% of millennials are saving 5% or more of their income, almost double the rate of other older generations at that age. 

MYTH #7: Millennials are delaying making major commitments.

It probably won’t come as a surprise to many that this one is, in fact, true. Millennials are actually delaying traditional milestones like moving out, getting married and buying homes.

15% of millennials are still living with their parents. Leaving parents later in life is also pushing back other milestones, like getting married. Of people aged 18-34, over 65% more millennials are not married compared to their parents’ generation. Although college-educated millennials are more likely to be married, it is still at the lowest point overall.

Now let’s look at their attitudes toward the church and religion. 

According to Barna Group, among young people who don’t go to church, 87 percent say they see Christians as judgmental, and 85 percent see them as hypocritical. A similar study found that “only 8% say they don’t attend because church is ‘out of date,’ undercutting the notion that all churches need to do for Millennials is to make worship ‘cooler.’ 

In other words, a church can have a sleek logo and website, but if it’s judgmental and exclusive, if it fails to show the love of Jesus to all, millennials will sniff it out. Their reasons for leaving the church have less to do with style and image and more to do with substantive questions about life, faith and community. They’re not as shallow as you might think. If young people are looking for congregations that authentically practice the teachings of Jesus in an open and inclusive way, then the good news is the church already knows how to do that. The trick isn’t to make church cool; it’s to keep worship weird.

Let me say that again. The trick is to keep worship “weird”. I find good news in this statement. The Brethren have not been called “weird”, per se, BUT we HAVE been called “peculiar”, which is 10 times better in my book.

Now let’s go back to the scripture passages Sandi read for us today and see how they apply. In the letter to the Ephesians she read, “you must no longer live as the Gentiles live, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of their ignorance and hardness of heart.”

When we hold these false ideas about an entire group of people, how can we ever build a community that includes them? They will always be on the outside. Have we hardened our hearts because we choose to believe the worst about our young adults?

In the Philippians passage Sandi read, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.”

How does bad-mouthing Millennials regard them as better than ourselves? 

We need to intentionally regard our young adults as better than ourselves.

The entire service today focused on the theme of community. We are to be a “community” of believers. We are to include people who love the Lord. We are to find people who NEED the Lord and share the Lord WITH them, and bring them into the community. But how do we do that?

One way is through things like our Eli Project. The project matched our children and youth with an adult who was their “secret” pal. Today, the secret is over. The young “Samuels” will find out who their “Eli” is. The point is to use this introduction to kickoff what we hope will be a long lasting relationship between the generations. For Millennials, they too should have relationships with older adults.

One of the reasons I have focused so much time on the Millennials is that they comprise 40% of the population. And down the road, it is this generation that we are going to hand our church down to. If they are not part of our community, how do we pass it on? Let’s face it, we who currently make up the church are getting older. If we don’t start the process of including the future generations very soon, we won’t have a church to pass down. Nor will we have anyone who wants it.

We need to include  Millennials in our community, so perhaps we need to understand them a little better.

So let’s look at some data ABOUT Millennials and their views on church and religion.

Interestingly enough, Millennials are MORE religious than all the other generations. More of them pray than the previous generations. More of them see how God interacts in their lives. More are trying to understand who God is.

BUT, they do not trust the institutional church.

Their faith looks far more like their great grandparent’s than what we see in today’s church. They are religiously “conservative” believing the current church has strayed off the path into religious “liberalism”.

Recent research from the Barna Group and the Cornerstone Knowledge Network found that 67 percent of millennials prefer a “classic” church over a “trendy” one, and 77 percent would choose a “sanctuary” over an “auditorium.” While they have yet to warm to the word “traditional”, millennials exhibit an increasing aversion to exclusive, closed-minded religious communities. For a generation bombarded with advertising and sales pitches, when young people sense that there is more emphasis on marketing Jesus than actually following Him, they want no part in that. Millennials “are not disillusioned with tradition; they are frustrated with slick or shallow expressions of religion.”

Let’s ask ourselves a question or two to find out where we stand.

1.) Is our church real or is it relevant?

For a long time now, I’ve been saying that we need to relate better to the next generation. We need to make the scriptures relevant, or the next generation will never come through our doors. Here’s what the research says, “Millennials are looking for authenticity. Unfortunately, a lot of churches today are striving to win over young adults by being relevant.” Consider what Leadership Journal Managing Editor Drew Dyck identifies as the potential point of connection:

“Millennials have a dim view of church. They are highly skeptical of religion. Yet they are still thirsty for transcendence. But when we portray God as a cosmic buddy, we lose them (they have enough friends). When we tell them that God will give them a better marriage and family, it’s white noise (they’re delaying marriage and kids or forgoing them altogether). 

When we tell them they’re special, we’re merely echoing what educators, coaches, and parents have told them their whole lives. But when we present a ravishing vision of a loving and holy God, it just might get their attention and capture their hearts as well” 

 “Young adults are used to Photoshop. They want reality TV. They want to see real people and what they go through.

They want REAL, not RELEVANT. I’ve been wrong all this time.

2.) Is our church setting a place of action or rest?

One of the ways churches can help point people to God regardless of their facility’s architecture is by bringing nature into the church setting. 

Millennials say nature helps them connect with God and it helps provide an antidote to a need they voiced in research—the need for respite.

Our culture is highly fragmented and frantic, and there are few places to take a breather and gain much-needed perspective, while ironically, most churches offer what they think people want: more to do, more to see. Yet that’s exactly the opposite of what many young adults crave when it comes to sacred space.

Most church buildings today are places of action, not rest, and spaces to “do” rather than “be.” 

With so much emphasis on being the hands and feet of Jesus and putting love into action—all of which is well-intended activity designed to help people grow as followers of Christ—church buildings still need to be a place where people can experience Jesus’ invitation: “Come unto me, all ye who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

3.) Is our church being Jesus?

“Every young adult is trying to figure out what they exist for. What’s my purpose in life?” We need to talk with millennials about real things—here’s why you should stay sexually pure until marriage. Here’s why it’s good to tithe.

This kind of real-world teaching gets at another aspect that attracts Millennials: challenge. “Twenties want to be challenged to think about difficult messages, they don’t just want to have easy topics each week. They want to dive into difficult-to-understand topics and passages and explore how they apply.

Millennials want a role to play. “They don’t want to sit on the sidelines and observe. If they’re going to be part of a church, it must have value and meaning. In generations like the Boomers, people attend church out of some moral obligation to do so. Millennials won’t have any of that. If it doesn’t provide meaning and value to them, they won’t participate. They’ll go and find something that does have meaning and value.”

What better place for young Christian Millennials to feel they can truly make a difference with their gifts and talents than at their churches?

4.) Is our church helping Millennials find mentors?

Millennials don’t feel the same sense of obligation to attend church that previous generations may have. At the same time, being part of a faith community can provide young adults with exactly the mentorship and guidance they crave from older adults.

Barna’s research shows that young adults who remain involved in a local church beyond their teen years are twice as likely as those who don’t, to have a close personal friendship with an older adult in their faith community . They’re also twice as likely to have had a mentor other than a pastor or youth minister.

“Mentoring and discipling this next generation is everything,” says Aspen Group CEO Ed Bahler, a founding partner of the Cornerstone Knowledge Network. Baby Boomers, Bahler says, hold all the financial, intellectual, professional and relational capital. “The golden opportunity for the Church is learning how to tap into all of this capital and leverage it to equip the next generation to lead in the church.”

Effective ministry to Millennials means helping young believers discover their own mission in the world, not merely asking them to wait their turn. It also means calling out Millennials to share their knowledge about how to navigate life in this digital age. The term “reverse mentoring” describes the reciprocal sharing between young and established leaders.

5.) Do worship “styles” matter?

Traditional or contemporary worship? High church or low church? A plurality of elders, board of directors, or staff-led church? Millennials don’t care.

Millennials won’t attend churches that try to answer questions nobody is asking.

6.) Where is the church’s priorities?

“When the faithful saturate their schedules with Christian events at Christian venues with Christian people, the world has a hard time believing we hold the rest of the world in high esteem.” ~Gabe Lyons

What is important to Millennials? How a church responds to the lost in the world, both locally and globally. How a church responds to the poor, homeless, needy, and widowed. If you want to ensure your church has very few Millennials, answer the questions nobody is asking, spend most of your resources on your building, and have programs that do little to impact anybody outside the church walls.

The next generation is pessimistic towards institutions…the church included. Millennials are not going to give their time and resources to a church that spends massive amounts of money on inefficient and ineffective programs.

Millennials are not looking for perfect people…Jesus already handled that. Millennials are looking for people to be real and honest about struggles and temptations.

This is a common misconception about Millennials. While they do not like paternalistic leadership, they place a high value on learning from past generations.

They value wisdom and insight. It is a valuable treasure, and they will travel long distances to acquire it.

Millennials aren’t standoffish towards those who have gone before us. They place a high value on learning. But they want to learn from sages, not dads.

Love the people “out there” more than you love the people “in here.”
Millennials are desperate for a church whose heart breaks for the lost and broken. A church where reaching the lost is THE mission. Not A mission. Not part of a mission. THE mission.

7.) Do we actually make community a priority?

Millennials want a church that values smaller, not larger. Smaller in the sense of community. Deeper intimacy. A place to be known. A place to be loved. Most churches talk about community. But few churches make it a priority.

Community exposes layers of selfishness and sin. At the same time, community peels back deeper layers of God. Millennials want this type of community.

Now that I’ve talked about who the Millennials really are and what they are looking for, it’s time for the GOOD news! Our church already provides everything the Millennials are looking for. Our biggest obstacle, as I see it, is that we have been simply misunderstanding them all this time. We have been carrying misinformed negative opinions about an entire generation. We don’t need to develop new programs, or change worship styles, we simply need to extend a hand to them. We need to get outside our 4 walls and invite them to experience our love and the love of Jesus. We only need to be ourselves and care for them as much as we care for anyone else within our community.

And what I think is a huge opportunity, is that we are in a time of transition. We are searching for a new pastor. Does it make sense to include the thought that we should also be searching for the next generation? Perhaps even looking for a pastor who is also searching for them?

I may have spoken exclusively about Millennials, but we know that ALL People need the Lord. He’s alive among us and we only need to share Him with others. Our community is alive and well and we have an opening for an entire generation to join us!

Sources:


Most of the statistical data in my sermon (and a lot of verbiage) is taken directly from these websites.


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